Not Time Yet

Writers: AL, Jane, Kaysea
Date Posted: 31st March 2008

Characters: Fog, Eliste, Nico, Irisdi
Description: Eliste begins to have premature contractions. Fog and Nico find her and get a healer.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 8, day 18 of Turn 4

She had been walking around the riverboat for some time. Eliste had felt restless, though she couldn't pinpoint the cause. Perhaps it was her nervousness regarding her situation catching up with her. That would be odd considering the further away she got from Emerald Falls, the better she felt.

It was while she was on the deck that the contractions started. She froze, her hands moving to the rail and tightening around it. It wasn't as bad as full labour, but it was uncomfortable as well disconcerting. She was just ending her third month and about to go into her fourth. She'd barely started even showing, her dresses still able to hide her condition.
Why was she having a contraction.

Eliste stood still until it passed a moment later and she relaxed, letting out a long breath. She stayed where she was for a few minutes, then resumed her walk. Moments later, another one hit.

Panic began to rise and tighten her throat. Another one? Why? She was barely halfway through her pregnancy. She shouldn't be having contractions. She knew that she could have the practise contractions, but these were not those. The practise contractions she always felt in the front, but these were in the back.

Again, the contractions stopped after a minute and she waited. She supposed it was somewhere between fifteen to twenty minutes when they came again. Eliste took a seat on a nearby bench and began to breath slow and steady, not so much for the pain, but for the panic that continued to increase. She closed her eyes, fighting the panic, doing her best to keep breathing so she wouldn't start crying. She wasn't sure how long she sat there, long enough for several more contractions to start and stop and then to not come again. She stood up and walked around a bit longer. It seemed like all was well. She had gone a decent amount of time without having contractions and had started to head back to her cabin when another one hit. She stopped and sat down on another bench, her hands closed tight as she muttered to herself. "What is happening?"

~*~

" ... tell you, in another few days, you'll see I'm right." Fog nodded his head for emphasis.

"Well I'll believe it when I se-" Nico pulled on Fog's arm to bring him to a stop, his eyes revetting on the woman sat huddled on the bench a short way down the deck. "Ellina?" he asked, moving forward quickly, she looked like she was in pain.

"Steady..." Fog whispered loudly, "take it easy." Cautioning Nico in his haste. His cousin hadn't let up on his interest in the young woman, and tended to over-react around her.

Eliste looked up startled out of her concentration by the voice. "Oh, hello." The contraction died down and she breathed a little more easily. Her back straightened and she let her eyes lower back to the floor. She was silent for a moment, then asked softly, "Is there a healer on the boat?"

"If there is we'll find one for you." Fog's brow creased in concern as he glanced along the deck. "I'll find Rahona or Vaheri, one of them's sure to know. Nico, stay here and..." he shrugged, there wasn't much Nico could do for her, but company - well he'd certainly be that for her. "..er, stay here and make sure she stays calm."

"Er.." Nico looked in surprise from his cousin to Ellina, "er, yeah -
okay." he looked with what he hoped was a confident smile at Ellina, how could he keep her calm if he was losing it, he wondered? Better to put a brave face on though - for her sake, "You'll be fine..." he reassured her, surprising himself with how calm his voice sounded, even to his ears.

Nico didn't really have to worry. Eliste remained calm until Fog returned with a healer who was travelling on the boat. A few moments later, she was back in her quarters with the healer.

Eliste moved inside her room in front of the healer. She was chewing on her lip, scared, her hands over her abdomen which was quite tight. Her back was sore with the occasional sharper pain of contractions. It was uncomfortable, but nothing like full blown active labour. No, but it certainly felt like early labour and that was what concerned her. She lowered herself on to the bed, facing the healer, trying not to worry, but doing a terrible job of it.

"Now, Eliste," the journeyman healer said as he stood with one hand on the door, "Would you prefer to wait until one of the riverboat women can join us?"

Eliste shook her head. "No, I want to find out what's happening."

Irisdu shut the door to the small but delightful stateroom. "Tell me what the problem is," he said, indicating that she should sit down in one of the chairs.

"I'm having contractions, but I'm not even halfway through my pregnancy." Eliste moved from the bed to one of the chairs. "They aren't transition labor contractions, but they feel like early labor."

"You have other children, then?" he asked, making sure that the woman did know what she was talking about and wasn't just parroting ideas she might have got from somebody else.

Eliste's gaze lowered and she fought the sting of tears. "I did." Her abdomen tightening, though only part of it was from the contractions.

"Once."

"But you carried that babe to term?"

The girl nodded, her throat tightening. She had carried Varel to term and lost her. Eliste didn't think she could bear to lose another one.

"Are you bleeding at all?"

"I haven't checked." Eliste admitted. "I mean, it just started a little while ago. I was just so startled, the first thought I had was to get a healer."

"And luckily one's onboard this trip," Irisdi said. "Shall we check for bleeding first?"

Yes, Eliste was very grateful that there was a healer on board. She nodded and then made her way over to the bed and lay down. One had to learn to forgo privacy around healers, especially when one was pregnant.
That wasn't an issue at the moment, though, she was too worried about her baby.

"I'll just untuck your shirt, here, and slip your skirt down so that I can feel your abdomen," the journeyman said, suiting actions to words. "How long until you're due," he asked, gently working his way around the exposed tummy in the logical pattern that his long-ago masters had insisted on.

"I'm not even halfway through." It was hard to tell. Eliste had noticed that she wasn't showing as much with this pregnancy. She had been told that women tended to show more with the second, but that was not the case with her. She had noticed, however, her back started hurting much earlier. She hoped it was simply a case of the baby being further back instead of not growing. One good thing had come of it - Helvar had no idea she was pregnant when she left.

"Ahh!" Irisdi breathed in quiet exclamation as a distinct contraction began under his hands. "Well, you're certainly right about that."

Eliste swallowed and nodded. At least they weren't making her bend over in agony. Still, they were strong enough to be uncomfortable and to cause her concern. "Yes."

"All right. Before I go any further we'll get you something to drink."
His own room always had a jug of water on the bedside table and her room was no exception. "Water, for the moment," he said, pouring a large glass from the pitcher. "Here, just sit up a little, and sip this."

Eliste complied, sipping slowly at the water. She wasn't really thirsty, but she wasn't going to argue with the healer either. "Thank you." She said softly when she had finished the glass.

"It's one of the first things to try in stopping premature labour," he told her.

Premature labour. Eliste didn't like the sound of that. She the cup to the healer, "Then would you get me more, please?"

"Certainly." He did so. "And we'll try some wine if the contractions don't stop but in the meantime I think I'd better examine you, so that I can be sure premature labour is what this is. Are you happy with that? or would you prefer I got the riverboat headwoman? She's their midwife, too."

He was giving her a choice? Eliste had never had a healer ask her that sort of thing before. While she was certainly more comfortable with women, he was a healer. The young woman shook her head. "Let's just get this over with."

Irisdi was as quick and as careful as he could be and he couldn't help but be happy to reassure her that there was no bleeding. "Have the contractions eased at all?" he asked, still seeing them but knowing she would have a much better idea of their increasing or diminishing strength.

"Yes, a little." Eliste was glad of that, though she wished they hadn't started at all. The most recent one died and she wondered if they would just go away or if she was going to have another. She couldn't help but fear for the safety of her unborn. One hand slid to her belly which had only in the last couple of days finally begun to really show signs of her pregnancy. Even that was still hidden by her clothes most of the time. She didn't want to lose this child too. Eliste honestly didn't know if she could handle losing another.

"Well, Eliste, you're laying down, resting, and I'll get you some wine, but apart from that I'm afraid there's nothing else that can be done, other than to wait and see what your body decides," he said gently, smoothing down her clothing. "Do you understand that?"

"Yes." She didn't like it, but she understood it. Eliste was frightened, but she was doing her best to stay calm. The contraction had died by that time and another one had yet to start. She was almost afraid to move, almost afraid to breathe for fear that another might come.

"And here's the most ridiculous bit of advice; you need to relax and not worry."

That elicited a small smile. "Thank you." Eliste knew the healer meant well, but she couldn't help but worry. She would do her best, and she would do whatever she needed to do to make sure of her baby's safety.

"I'll pop out and get the wine, and perhaps find someone to sit with you in case I have to leave. I have to, sometimes, if there's a need at any of the stops the riverboat makes. Is there another passenger you're particularly friendly with? Or one of the crew?"

While Eliste liked several of the crew, she couldn't say that she was particularly close to any of them. She knew she wouldn't be comfortable with one of the men. "Vaheri, the headwoman. Or perhaps one of the other women."

"I'll speak to Vaheri," the journeyman said. "I won't be a moment," he promised, slipping out the door and closing it quietly behind him.

There were no more contractions, for which Eliste was very grateful. She hoped there would be no more after that. However, she realised, she had been having contractions off and on for a few days. It had only been that day that they had come and not gone away after a few minutes.

Eliste turned on her side, one hand resting on her belly. **Wait.** She thought, as if the life inside her could hear her. **It's not time yet, oh please wait.** She closed her eyes, fighting the tears that threatened. **I don't want to lose you too.**

Last updated on the April 5th 2008

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Not Time Yet